Zero Saotome
by Nuvares
Summary: Abducted during the incident at Jusenkyou, Ranma is transformed into a cyborg soldier. Now called Zero, he must rediscover himself.
1. Jusenkyou visit with a twist

Disclaimer:

I don't own Ranma 1/2, the series and all characters involved with the series belong to Rumiko Takahashi

I also don't own Dragonball Z, the series... yada yada... blah blah blah belong to Akira Toriyama

And the excellent people at Capcom own Zero and the entire Megaman/Rockman/Megaman X series

I do this for fun and not profit

I don't own these things... yet... I will when the copyright comes off *evil glare*

But what I do own is this crossover and any ideas and new character within so hands off evil-vampire-lawyers-from-hell!!!

*holds up bane to evil-vampire-lawers-from-hell existence, the disclaimer*

"Speech" (duh)

Thought

-Signs-

`Telepathy'

(Authors notes)

Zero Saotome

      BANG!

      Ranma was hit... that was all he knew anyway, everything else seemed far away... very far away,  his pop seemed to have disappeared and been replaced with a panda from his fall into the small pool. The portly guide was blabbering something about a drowned panda when the thing had hit him in a bee-line towards another pond.  Time seemed to stop all together for Ranma as he could almost see everything in crystal clarity, from the grasshopper on the cliff over Genma's shoulder or the water drops flying off the wet bear's fur when everything suddenly went white.  He thought this was just him transforming into something strange like a duck, pig, cat, or even a girl, he shuddered at the last thought as the world went black and he slipped into unconsciousness.

---------

      Genma watched as Ranma started glowing and flashed bright white as he entered the pool, when the light subsided he waited for his son to resurface in his new form... after a few minutes he looked at the guide who had just recovered from the strange flash of light and started babbling like after Genma himself had fallen into the spring.

      "Oooo sir! That very strange! it never happen before when sir's fall into Spring of Drowned Girl, very tragic legend of a young girl who drown in spring one-thousand-five-hundred year ago!" the guide droned on waiting for the young sir to resurface as a busty young woman until the panda held up a sign from subspace -WHERE IS MY SON!- "I sorry sir! Sir's son should have surfaced long time ago!" By this time Genma was sweating rivers with only one thought in his head How am I going to explain this to Nadoka?

---------

      "Pop?" Ranma said groggily trying to move but finding himself restrained on a table. Feeling the cold pinch of metal on his back told him that his shirt was off and there was a sharp pain in his chest was, to him, unmistakably a scalpel.  His time at the hospital after the neko-ken incident was very vivid in his memory and the cold cutting edge struck fear into him as it slowly moved across his torso, splitting the flesh in a splash of red.  He couldn't understand why he wasn't yelling out in pain but accepted that he felt little at all from the experience and his eyes soon were able to focus on the multi-colored lights that dotted one wall distracting him for a minute.  These movements and the word he spoke must have alerted someone because a bright overhead lamp flashed into existence blinding him as he felt the unmistakable pinch of a needle in his neck and succumbed to the wonton confines of unconsciousness.

---------

      Dr. Gero watched the boy stir but had to complete the incision before he could resedate him, thinking quickly he flicked on the overhead lamp to disorient the child and, upon finishing the cut, pulled out a syringe and injected the sedative into Ranma.  Hmmmmm.... I must have underestimated this boy's recuperative abilities, the dose I gave him before should have lasted well over 2 more hours, this just means I'll have to be more careful he smiled as he saw Ranma's eyes roll back into his head and breathing calm.  Looking over at his perfection, the red cybernetic implants that were being housed in a cryotank My Perfection, even those failure androids and Cell couldn't reach this level! without adieu Gero started dissecting Ranma's innards while implanting the cybernetic replacements for his key organs.

---------

      Over the next week Ranma flashed into consciousness on regular intervals only to be subdued by Gero before he could get his bearings, One time he woke with sharp pains in his chest and arms, and looked around to see a flash of deep red before the needle pierced his flesh knocking him out in a matter of seconds depositing him into the blissful blackness of unconsciousness.  An indeterminable time later he woke again to feel the pains had moved to his head, looking up he saw the oddest red hourglass on black background.  It reminded him of a black widow if it weren't for the size and the odd white marks in the red.  Trying to Focus more on the 'doctor' that was treating him and those odd white symbols his eyes suddenly stopped working and he sat there into total darkness before the usual pinch of the needle.

      Awakening Ranma was blinded by the difference in climate from the damp dark room of the past indefinite amount of time, First thing he noticed other than the surroundings was the extra weight he could feel on his entire body... second was the odd helmet sitting on the table across from him. He started to stand when he suddenly felt very feint and had to lean against the wall for support, shaking his head to clear it he looked down at himself... and screamed. Trying to pull the odd armor off of him he got up and banged on the door.

      "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!!!" Ranma yelled at the cold steel when suddenly the air around him started glowing yellow as his aura sprang into existence. "LET ME OUT NOW!!!"  Flaring his aura more he suddenly jumped into the air and gathering his energy into a ball he shot his hands upward releasing the massive shockwave.  A chuckling rolled out of the damaged intercom beside the door.

      "Amazing, I see that you have already activated the Giga Crush technique... too bad you used your charge up, but then again, that can be shall we say, rectified..." Ranma didn't particularly like the voice or its statement, he had never heard of the Giga Crush technique let alone learned it... but then how did he do it just then... more out of instinct but then how did he learn it in the first place?  There were just too many questions that he didn't want answers to but there were a few he did.

      "WHERES MY POP!?! AND WHAT IN THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!?!" Ranma screamed at the door.  Outside the room Dr. Gero smirked at the naive child. He'll do just fine once I've activated the mind control devices... his potential shall be of great use to me in my immortality Again he chuckled into the microphone in front of him.

      "I've never seen your 'Pop' before so I wouldn't know where he is, as for what I've done to you... I've just made you the greatest fighter the world has ever seen, project Zero, and soon you shall kill Goku and his brat!" He didn't care about telling the boy his plans, the kids mind was going to be devoid of thought soon enough and he'll follow every order.  Ranma on the other hand was trying to quickly think up something to do to get out of this, he wasn't a killer so how did this guy expect him to just blatantly kill this Goku guy?  Not coming up with anything and his curiosity getting the better of him Ranma walked over and picked up the helmet and examine it.  Gero watched this and waited for the boy to finish what he was doing.

      "Why don't you try it on... it fits so well with your new body, y'never know you might like it" Gero said hoping to get Ranma to put the final touch on without him having to resort to the mind control... a willing participant was always better than someone who fought the process.  Ranma wasn't known for his big leaps in brainpower but this was one of those odd moments of epiphany and decided to forgo the donning of the red metallic helmet.

      "Nahh. It's probably pretty clunky and would weigh me down." Ranma lied... and he was a bad liar so Gero had to resort to plan B.  Bringing out a small black remote he hit the first button and repeated his command.  To Ranma's surprise, and dismay, he found that the man's voice had suddenly become irresistibly imposing and he found himself following the demand before he even knew he was moving.  Trying to question it he found that he was not in control of his own body... like a spectator watching a helmet cam in the Daytona 500 and watched as the helmet spun in his hands and was brought to rest on his cranium.

      When the dome was placed on his head it immediately went to work form fitting to the dark haired martial artist and activating the power enhancers.  Ranma couldn't believe it, there was so much ki flowing into him he was afraid he was going to burst if the controllers hadn't chosen that time to kick in and he found the ki being channeled through his new makeshift "veins" and could almost feel himself radiate the power.  If Pop could see me now, he'd kuso his pants! as his power continued to rise he could feel himself hit a block.  Not knowing what to do, or what was happening for that matter, He unconsciously pushed the block out of the way and felt the in flood of ki as he passed into SSJ level 1.  This is amazing, I never knew one person could hold so much Ki, even that Buu guy couldn't have had this much Ki! Dr. Gero was watching Ranma's progress with smiling satisfaction as the sensor's recorded Ranma's power level still claming.

      "Yes this will do quite well for Goku's downfall... quite well indeed..." 

Gero watched as Ranma pushed towards the next level in power.

---------

      Gohan sat up in shock as he felt the spike in power, at first he thought it was his dad but there was something wrong with the aura... something he couldn't place his finger on... he was about to get up when he remembered Vegita might make an aura this large and this strange.  Sighing he layer back down beside Videl and contemplated the significance of this for the few seconds before he fell asleep again.  Elsewhere Goku was sitting up in his bed wondering about the odd power spike but had a different thought, the power seemed familiar to him although he couldn't place it... the oddest thing was that he was excited that he might have a new sparing partner.  Little did he know how accurate half of that statement would be.

---------

      Dr. Gero smiled as he watched Ranma go through a couple of kata's in his new SSJ state. Remarkable! Who would have thought that this puny human would have so much potential and discipline?  Hoping the sayai-jin wouldn't notice the power spike or disregarded it as nothing he set about preparing for the training of Project Zero.  The next day Gero opened the door to see Ranma there still doing katas at blinding speeds, knowing that his real name wouldn't do at this time, and that he never found out Ranma's name, he decided to give him a new one.

      "Zero, time to get started... follow me" He left the door way and waited for his creation to follow him.  Ranma, realizing Dr. Gero meant him, decided to go along for now, he could always escape later... if Genma had taught him anything it was how to run away.  They exited through a small cave and Ranma noticed that they were in a valley and there was what looked like a large martial arts arena made up of square blocks of white stone... it reminded him of the tenkaichibudoukai a couple of years earlier where he had won the junior division... it was pretty easy and he heard that the next year two seven year olds won it with relative ease... he was pretty shocked considering he was hard pressed and he was 13.  Shaking his head slightly to clear it he waited for Gero's order. "Ok then lets see your skills, and if those systems are working" Gero said jumping to one side of the ring he motioned for Ranma to follow. "Now then Zero attack me!"

      Ranma didn't get the demand at first but soon started moving towards the being in front of him, leaping he went into a flying kick to test the old man.  Gero smirked and disappeared, the second he did time slowed down to a crawl and he could see Gero as if he were casually walking to the place he appeared.  Dr. Gero noticed Ranma follow his movements and made a note that the optical systems were working, now for the analysis routines.  Forming his hands into a ball in front of him he made a ki blast and fired it at Ranma, again for Ranma time seemed to slow as words appeared in his vision portraying how the ki was manipulated to form the ball flying towards him and the best way to counter.  Holding up his arm by reflex he saw his hand disappear and a ball of ki similar in appearance to Dr. Gero's fly from the hole, on contact with Gero's ball they cancelled each other out in a small explosion.

      How did I do that? Ranma had only the few seconds thought before another blast was heading his way, this time though he opted to dodge and decided to go on the offensive.  Balling his left fist he watched the hand disappear to be replaced by what appeared to be an gun barrel, not knowing what he was doing he started firing the ki blasts at Gero in rapid succession before holding the shot in for a sec and noticing the first light in a three part gauge light up he released the ball only this time the ball was quadruple the size.

      Dodging the rapid blasts and the new larger ki ball he smiled to himself.  Adaptability and improvisation, he's doing better than I thought! Gero dodged another large blast before continuing the fight.

---------

      Vegita knew something was up, last night there was the large surge of power as if someone were transforming into Super Sayai-jin Level Three and now the same power level was spiking as if in a large scale battle.  At first he assumed Kakorotto but now he noticed the energy had a darker turn to it, and he wanted to know who had this much power.  If it is someone at super sayai-jin three then I want to know who scoffing the possibility that he might need Kakorotto or his brat Gohan he set out from Capsule corp. intent on finding the source of immense power.  Half-way to the power he was dismayed to find just the two people he hated the most, Kakorotto and his brat.  Powering up enough to close the gap he started flying beside the two.

      "Hey Vegita, didn't think you were gonna make it" Goku said cheerfully to the sayai-jin prince.

      "You truly think that the prince of all sayai-jin would miss this spike in power!" he sneered back as Gohan shook his head at the feuding sayai-jin... or he should have said the feuding Vegita, Goku didn't seem aware of the ongoing rivalry between the two.  "If anything when you and your brat got there you would be too stupid to know what to do!" Vegita seemed angrier than ever at the thought that the two might have made it there first, but it was quickly forgotten as they started to hear the explosions as they neared the small island.

      "I wonder who it is dad," Gohan piped up. "I don't think I've ever felt this ki signature before, could it possibly be another sayai-jin?"  Vegita's brow furrowed at this new thought, there wasn't any other sayai-jin off planet at the time it was destroyed so where was this obviously super sayai-jin power coming from if the two most powerful, although he'd be the last to admit it, savaging beside him?

      "Well Gohan I guess we'll find out soon enough we're almost there" Goku answered trying to pinpoint the source of the power.  Heading towards a large canyon they first noticed the tournament style arena, second they noticed the large amount of ki projectiles being volleyed in the ring.  Making out the fighters they saw a boy who looked in his middle teens wearing the oddest red armor, the second feature of the kid that the made note of was the long gold hair that seemed to radiate light.  So this is the super sayai-jin? Doesn't look much Vegita was steamed that another younger sayai-jin had somehow become more powerful than him without him noticing till it was too late.  Goku on the other hand had an entirely different view on the situation along the lines of Hey new sparring buddy!  Gohan noticed these reactions and sweatdropped as facefaulting was impossible at 10 000 ft.  Dr. Gero was almost as surprised to see the sayai-jin as they were to see him.

---------

      "Dr. GERO???? But you're supposed to be dead?" Gohan stuttered being the only one of the three that could talk. As the android watched them approach.

      "Foolish brat #17 killing him was probably just a setup!" Vegita snarled at the boy, feeling angrier at himself for not thinking of this outcome earlier, Gero had probably used the androids and Cell to gather information and the short human's wife was probably still sending him information on them... he might have to question her about that but that would have to be later, after Gero and his new android were destroyed.

      "Quite right Vegita, although it was considered a last resort I see the ploy worked!  But you three have shown up before expected, and so I'm afraid that I must accelerate my plans... ZERO DESTROY THEM NOW!" Gero yelled as the three were bearing down on their location, Ranma tried to glare at Gero but found that he was somehow being controlled again and raised his arm and aimed it at Goku all the while powering up the weapon.  When the meter on his arm had reached the third gauge he balled his fist and let the blast fly.

      Goku watched in wonder as the boy's hand disappeared to reveal a hole in his arm.. A few seconds later he was frantically dodging as a large ki ball whizzed by.  Taking this new threat more seriously he went super sayai-jin level one and rushed in to engage the enemy.  Lets just hope Vegita's arrogance doesn't get in the way Gohan thought as he charged in to help his father powering up to super sayai-jin on the way.  Ranma knew that this was a fruitless fight but found himself getting ready for the oncoming attack against his will, feeling some weird sensation he waited for the fighters to get closer before reaching up and slamming his fist into the ground while releasing a large amount of ki.  A few seconds after the attack the stone squares erupted from their positions flying high into the air towards the onrushing sayai-jin, all three tried to dodge the large projectiles but each ended up being hit in one way or another.

      Vegita was the first to recover and started sending a rapid succession of ki balls towards Ranma's position, Ranma's analysis routines kicked in and soon he was firing counters from his arm gun as fast as Vegita could dish them out.  When Vegita finally stopped after seeing the futility of the attack Ranma started firing larger shots at the sayai-jin prince.  Hoping the distraction that Vegita was providing to help Gohan flew towards Ranma and engaged him in close combat, at first he seemed successful as his ki charges punches and kicks were connecting but he was soon dismayed as Ranma started blocking and dodging more and more of them as his cybernetic implants analyzed and predicted Gohan's pattern.  Goku, in one of his few and far between bouts of intelligence, used his instant transmission technique to get behind Ranma.  Ranma's sensors recorded this ki manipulation and as soon as Goku appeared behind him he put two fingers to his forehead and teleported out from between the two as Gohan's punch went right through where he was and connected with Goku's shoulder.  Appearing beside Vegita he engaged the sayai-jin and was soon pressing the attack beyond anything Vegita had ever encountered, even with Kakorotto.  Vegita was soon but out of commission with a well timed double-fist hammer attack, and Vegita plowed into the ground under him.

      "What kind of monster is this?" Gohan exclaimed as he watched Vegita plummet from the sky.  Dr. Gero was quietly watching the fight from the sidelines and carefully holding the mind control button on his remote, he definitely didn't want Zero taking control of himself in the middle of the fight.  Goku was groaning and holding his shoulder from the impact Gohan had made.

      "Gohan that really hurt!" Goku yelled as they watched the two.

      "Sorry dad, it was an accident"

      "Its okay son, but we need to find a way of fighting him" Goku motioned to the Red fighter Gero had called 'Zero'.  Cupping his hands at his side he watched Ranma for a sec before launching his attack. "Ka...Me...Ha...Me...Ha!!!" extending his hands he shot the ki wave at Ranma who just casually copied the motions of Goku.

      "Ka...Me...Ha...Me...Ha!" Ranma's hands shot foreword releasing another blue-white beam at Goku's and they collided in midair forcing a reversed tug of war between the two powers.  To Gohan's horror he noticed that the beam was slowly moving towards his father he watched his father yell and the tide turn, but it was short lived as Ranma increased his power output into the wave again turning the power towards the sayai-jin.  Goku realizing that he was going to need to step it up a notch, exploded into super sayai-jin level two and the power output almost quadrupled on his end.  But much to his confusion Ranma just smirked and let go of the beam he was maintaining and let Goku's power hit him and be mostly absorbed by the Giga Crush Technique, holding his hands out he made a small ball and threw his hands up as the ball exploded blinding everyone but Ranma and destroying much of the surroundings.  And to Gero's unknowing hands his finger had slipped off the mind control button, Ranma felt the hold on his body fall and decided it was high time to stop the evil doctor holding his arm out towards Goku he charged up till it was at his max shot capacity but he didn't stop there.  Holding out his other hand he charged that one up to capacity and held it ready aiming it at Gohan this time, in his ignorance Gero called down the destruction of his hated foes.

      "Go Zero Destroy them!" Ranma saw this as his ultimate opportunity, swinging his arms to bear on Gero he released both shots at once and was surprised when they combined into one larger ball that shot towards the surprised android.  "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Gero yelled as he was enveloped by the ki and subsequently blown up Ranma, feeling really odd now, fell from the sky unconscious and landed in a heap by where the two conscious sayai-jin were standing.

---------

      Awakening from sleep the young boy of sixteen sat up with a start and promptly fell back onto the bed as his head swam from over exertion, not that it wasn't a jumble already.  Looking around the room he couldn't recognize anything more than the odd shelving on the wall and the small desk in the corner.

      "Where am I?... who am I?... I.. I can't remember" looking around he noticed a red metallic helmet and groaned as memories flashed through his head of him looking at the same helmet than putting it on... a few minutes later he awoke from the odd slumber to see the helmet again and stood up.  Feeling the odd heaviness that he was unused to he looked down and saw a flash of something, in the memory flash he saw himself although it was blurred as if looking in a polished metal.  Shaking his head he moved over and picked up the helmet, turning it around in his hands he decided against donning the heavy piece of armor feeling that his head felt heavy enough that he didn't need to add the extra twenty pounds.

      Moving towards the door he noticed a small sign that had 'Gohan' printed on it, the name felt familiar and he tried placing it. "Am I Gohan?... I wish I could remember" Moving through the door he walked down the empty corridor before reaching a set of curving stairs, slowly walking down them he looked at the new surroundings on what appeared to be the ground floor.  "Where am I?... is this my home?"  Halfway through the living room he found the tell-tale signs of someone cooking in the kitchen, following the enticing aroma he walked towards the opening in the wall that led to the other room.  Moving through the opening he saw a woman with black hair working laboriously over a stove, know knowing what to do he decided to ask the most pressing question on his mind.  "Excuse me... um... when will that be done?" (Like he's gonna ask anything other than a way to feed his stomach)

      At the voice she turned to the boy, normally the thought of someone Chichi didn't know in the house would have sent her into a fit she remembered Goku and Gohan had brought the unconscious boy in, it was odd how he was still super sayai-jin until his helmet was removed... even Goku powered down when knocked unconscious.  The first thing that ran through her mind was the story Goku and Gohan had told her of Dr. Gero and how the boy had taken Vegita out with seemingly no problem and was able to copy their best moves... second thing to run through her head was the realization that he was awake and in front of her.  Other people would have cringed or ran away when faced with someone who had the power she had been told that he had... but not Chichi Son, which was probably why she started screaming and pulled a frying pan from out of thin air and tried to whack him on the head with it.  Not knowing what was going on further than he was being attacked he quickly put up his arms in a defensive pattern and deflected the cooking utensil, looking at the dent the boy's arm had made in her cast iron pan she finally got mad and started continuously trying to whack the boy.  Him on the other hand just kept reflexively blocking and making more and more dents in the frying pan till it looked like a crumpled ball on a handle, by this time Chichi was staring wide eyed at what he had done to her frying pan and tossed the useless metal aside and got into a fighting stance.

      "why are you hitting me?" was all he could get out before she started going into a series of kicks and punches which his analysis routines easily caught onto and he was able to block or dodge every one, which consequently only served to make her angrier.  What was worse, in her mind at least, was that he was only using one arm, the other devoted to holding the helmet.  He just couldn't understand it, he had just walked into the room and asked a simple question when she started attacking him.  "Did I do something wrong?"  This was the one thing she wasn't expecting and paused in the confusion.

      "You mean you don't know? Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"  She yelled picking up the attack with new fervor causing him to start his rapid blocking again.

      "You don't know who I am?" he slumped to the ground still blocking and dodging all of her attacks with his freehand while looking solely dejected.  The statement again confused her into stopping.  What happened to the killing machine Goku had talked about?

      "What? You don't even know who you are?" in that moment she didn't see the armored person who had effortlessly blocked her best attacks as if they were  wisps of air.  But instead she saw the small frightened boy and her maternal instincts kicked in.  "Can you remember anything?" Although she was feeling sorry for the thing in front of her she still held her defenses up incase it decided to change its plan and attack.

      "No, I remember walking up and seeing the word Gohan on the door but everything else draws a blank... sorry about this," Standing he walked towards the door.

      "Where are you going?" she didn't want something that potentially  destructive just wandering around but didn't know how she'd stop him if he decided to anyway.  "Your not leaving are you?" This time she was thinking of what Goku and Gohan might do if the thing was missing when they returned.

      "Sorry for bothering you," opening the door he started running into the forest seeming as if to float over the ground being propelled by nothing... not that that would be all to strange to her knowing her family.

---------

      In China, About 200 ft away a giant panda was busy running from a group of women harboring various weapons from blades to bludgeons all seeming to try and get the panda for, to him at least, no reason.... the large roasted pig under his arm didn't count in his mind...

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      He stopped moving as a sneeze threatened to off balance his mode of transport, Where did that come from?  Feeling that it was an isolated incident he returned to his movement.  A few minutes hence he stopped again but this time by a large lake that seemed to spring from the mountain, kneeling down he looked at his reflection in the calm water.  But to his dismay the face staring back at him was as unrecognizable as his surroundings, running his hand through the reflection to dispel the image he cupped one hand and gathered some of the water.  The cold liquid felt good sliding down his throat but did little to comfort him other than to relieve the little bit of thirst, he was also angry at himself for his lack of memory but knew he had no control over it.

      Sitting against a nearby tree he pondered his situation while spinning the helmet over in his hands hoping to find something in his mind that he could grasp onto and remember but anything that seemed close ran like quicksilver through his mind's hand.  Getting frustrated at his lack of progress he almost threw the helmet into the wilderness but stopped when his hand wouldn't listen and let go of the object, when he ceased his murderous attempt of the helmet his hand opened of its own accord which only continued to baffle the martial artist.  Realizing that he couldn't throw away or leave the helmet, not that he truly wanted to since it did seem to go well with his attire, he thought that he had might as well put it on.

      Well here goes nothing... His thoughts rang in his head as he flicked the black ponytail behind his back and slipped the metal dome over his skull.  At first nothing happened but a tingling sensation as it sucked air in to form the innards to his head then he felt the jolt, it felt like his head had just been struck with a lightning bolt of ki as he felt his power and awareness rising beyond what he had thought possible.  The second change he noticed was that his ponytail had grown down to his feet (ever notice how zero's hair stays in the perfect shape instead of splaying all over the place) and turned a golden color almost glowing with the energy he felt coursing through his body.  Then, at the same speed it occurred, the process stopped leaving a very confused and very disoriented young man, then as if on its own accord images flashed quickly through his mind as if his memories were returning but again he was let down as they were fleeting and uninformative.  He still felt that his Chances of remembering were better but resigned that they weren't showing up anytime soon and set off to recover his memory in any way possible.

---------

      The short strip of yellow was an odd contrast to the green foliage of the forest the boy was in making him stand out like a sore thumb, and the purple shirt didn't help all that much either but the boy didn't seem to care.

      RANMA THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!! When I find you I'll make you pay for running out on your man to man... his ranting was cut short by the odd appearance of a panda knocking him over the cliff into an odd pond filled valley...

---------

      Walking towards the large grouping of buildings he started seeing more and more humans, although them seeing him could have been a better description.  His audio receivers picked up bits of the conversations that sprang up from the people around him.

      "...What's that?..." came from one person to his right.

      "I don't know and frankly I don't want to find out" was his partner's reply.

      "Funky suit... where would you get something like that?"

      "Looks like a robot or machine..."

      "But what about the head and face?"

      "Maybe its one of Dr. Briefs' creations?" that piqued his interest and so he walked over to the person who had uttered the comment.  The woman noticed the movement and cowered behind her boyfriend from the thing that was getting progressively closer.  The boyfriend was starting to sweat, it wasn't often that something that looked almost like a Cell clone walked up to you.  About to speak to the man in the manor the father who he didn't remember had taught him when something clicked in his head and his mouth started talking of its own accord.

      "Where is Doctor Briefs?" his body inquired while his mind was more like, 

What's going on here? the oddest part was that something answered him.

-Tactical Analysis Sub-Routine R2C554 installed in unit ZERO active-

Wha...? he would have continued but the couple finally got over his appearance enough to answer his non-threatening question.

      "Uhhhh.... He's at Capsule Corp... Uhhhh.... That way?" he pointed into the heart of the city before them.  Looking that way he nodded and stared walking that way after a brief 'thank you' and the couple sighed heavily in relief.

Okay now tactical whatchamacallit 9700 sub-whatever what the hell are you doing in my head?

-Error, Tactical Analysis Sub-Routine is installed in upper chest plate section 

H25R-

Your in my chest?

-Correct-

Why?

-Tactical sub-routine is to provide information and probability options to preserve unit ZERO-

What is this 'unit ZERO' you keep talking about?

-Unit ZERO is the active carrier for Tactical sub-routine-

active carrier... ME!

-Correct-

I am... ZERO?

-Correct-

Do I have a last name?

-Danger, conversation cease-

      Zero looked around to figure out why the thing had said there was danger only to find a large Ki ball moving towards him.  Time seemed to slow for the boy turned machine as probabilities and options flashed incomprehensively past his vision until coming to an ultimate conclusion and printed the choice onto Zero's vision.

[Deflect at vector 832.654] with the message came an animated demonstration and highlighting of the point of contact with a countdown timer.  As if on instinct he quickly reached out and swung at the flashing point in his vision, his hand flashed with energy and the ball moving towards him was deflected far into the air away from him and the innocent bystanders watching in horror.  Looking past where the ball was he looked upon his attacker the spikes golden hair was accented by he bandages he was furiously trying to remove, the damage to his body could easily be seen by both Zero's eyes and sensors.  Trying to ignore the injured and Ki drained man Zero tried to walk past hoping that the show of power would have been enough to discourage him, the tactical unit pointing out that the man was at less than half of his fighting potential and less than that compared to his level right now.  The man, on the other hand, attacked as if insulted that Zero has decided not to attack.  Almost on instinct Zero's hand shot out hitting the man with little force but causing him to fly into a wall across the street.

-Too much force Zero-

Sorry what was I supposed to do? He wasn't gonna listen to reason

-Use a little less force, force used almost deemed lethal-

I said I was sorry!

      Moving on he missed the Ambulance with the Capsule Corp. logo on the side pull up and retrieve the man, who now had black hair.  Moving along the street he stopped often to survey his surroundings, not noticing the virtual map being created to help guide him.  Soon he was in front of an oddly dome shaped house with the words Capsule Corp of the side, he was finally there.  It didn't take him long to have knocked on the door, and been greeted by a smiling blonde woman.

---------

      In a small high school, in a district of Tokyo, a young man stands in front of the whole school.  He wears a traditional kimono with baggy pants, the blue tones accenting his dark brown hair.  His manner and walk quite dignified as if he were a member of the long forgotten race of samurai.

      "If you wish to date with Tendo Akane, You must defeat her in battle!!! I shall accept no other terms," the boy finished hefting the bokken that seemed always with him.

---------

Authors notes:

Well here it is, my revision of my first fanfic... 

Send C&C to Jnuvares@hotmail.com, if you send little picky things like spelling or grammar I will laugh as there isn't any, flame mail will go to the ever growing pile of flame trying to warm my cold heart. 

Visit my site at 

Only place's with permission to post this work is Ranchan Totally Crossed out at 

And 


	2. Memory is for those that want to forget

Disclaimer:  
  
I don't own Ranma 1/2, the series and all characters involved with the series   
  
Belong to Rumiko Takahashi  
  
I also don't own Dragonball Z, the series... yada yada... blah blah blah belong to Akira Toriyama  
  
And the excellent people at Capcom own Zero and the entire   
  
Megaman/Rockman/Megaman X series  
  
  
  
I do this for fun and not profit so please don't sue! *Performs crouch of the wild tiger*  
  
"Speech" (duh)  
  
Thought  
  
-Signs/machine speak-  
  
`Telepathy'  
  
(Authors notes)  
  
  
  
Zero Saotome Chapter 2  
  
Bulma Briefs, President of Capsule Corp, stared at the... she wanted to think boy but thing seemed to suit it better. It stood there in the Brief's doorway watching her waiting for her to answer its question. She just stared at it recognizing the bowtie shaped symbol with the two R's on his helmet. The Red Ribbon Army? That means... Oh no! her eyes grew to the size of saucers and she slammed the door in Zero's face as she screamed while running for Vegita's room, she wouldn't let Gero's thing hurt him while he was recovering. Reaching the room she swung the door open to find the bed empty and the window open.  
  
"NO! Vegita NO BAKA!" she yelled at the window. If that thing was as strong as Cell then Vegita was a goner in his condition. She took a moment to let some tears fall as she rushed to make sure Trunks was safe. She might not be able to save Vegita but her child was another matter. "Damn that stupid fool" she mumbled as she cradled her baby and ran for the rear door.  
  
Meanwhile Zero just blinked as the door was slammed in his face.  
  
What just happened?  
  
-the door was forcefully closed while we were standing here.- Zero Sweat dropped at the comment but refrained from personally meeting the ground.  
  
I meant why? You do know what why is right tactical whatchamacallit?  
  
-Correct Designation is Tactical Unit R2C554 and to answer the question, Affirmative-  
  
So why did that happen?  
  
-The person who answered the door found something frightening when she looked in our direction-  
  
We don't look that bad do we?  
  
-insubstantial input, please clarify-  
  
Y'know for a Tactical thingamajig you really don't understand much  
  
-Correct Designation is Tactical Unit R2C554-  
  
Ok that needs to change, if I'm going to remember this you need a new name  
  
-Affirmative, what will be the new Designation?-  
  
Well... we need something easy and catchy... I know your new name is X. Goes well since I'm Zero  
  
-Acknowledged, Designation is now X-  
  
Well since that didn't work lets get out of here, the looks people are giving us is creepy  
  
-Agreed, possibly a disguise is in order-  
  
Ok, lets head to a clothing store He walked off in search of a department store forgetting about Dr. Briefs and Capsule corp.  
  
---------  
  
The store was suspiciously empty as Zero sorted through different clothes looking for something that would make a suitable disguise. Everyone who was in there when he entered seemed to have left, in quite a hurry, but he wasn't paying attention. Like the newly renamed "X" stated he needed a disguise to stop people from staring at him, and hopefully to stop people like that guy who attacked him. Looking through the racks he finally decided on a red Chinese shirt and black kung-fu pants. Quickly slipping them on he looked in the mirror.  
  
Covers well enough that people won't see anything unless their close... but the helmet's a dead give away  
  
-Helmet is removable, latch is located at point 0023, 0875- In Zero's vision a diagram of himself appeared and rotated till it showed the back of his head, a circle then appeared highlighting the area where the latch was. Reaching back he gripped the bottom of the helmet and gave an experimental tug. Almost instantly the helmet seemed to lose mass as a rush of compressed air vacated the edges with a sharp hiss. The helmet that once fit quite snugly now floated on his head and he was forced to remove it or it might have fallen.  
  
Wow, that's better He took another look at himself in the mirror and was shocked. ACK! What happened to my hair?  
  
-When you removed the helmet you hair shrunk and changed color- Again X stated the obvious but Zero ignored it to test a theory. Placing the helmet on his head he pressed the latch back into place, the helmet seemed to form fit his head and upon looking in the mirror his hair had returned to hits length and color.  
  
Weird... but useful He filed the information away for later as he removed the helmet and looked around for someone to pay. Where'd everyone go? X would have sweat dropped but he was a computer.  
  
Leaving the store Zero turned and started down the road. Where to go... I wish I knew where my home was  
  
-Information unknown-  
  
I wasn't talking to you X, just talking to... never mind He sighed and continued down the road. Any idea where this road leads?  
  
-this road leads 37 degrees north of east, according to Geo-synchronous satellite uplink you will reach a large city 12 hours, 34 minutes 5 seconds at current speed. Recommended that you activate the D.A.S.H. to drop travel time to 2 hours 14 minutes 32 seconds-  
  
ok, nothing left to do here lets go... how do I activate D.A.S.H.? He grinned like an idiot and scratched the back of his head.  
  
-Mental command, 'Dash Activate' to begin 'Dash Deactivate' to stop.- sounded easy enough.  
  
ok... Dash Activate! as soon as he thought the words his legs locked up and he started flying forward at close to 80 Mph.  
  
"WHOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!" was all that Zero could say as he was having the time of his life sliding down the highway.  
  
---------  
  
"You know he really shouldn't be here Dende" the short pitch black man told earths guardian.  
  
"I know Mr. Popo, I just wish I could remove what Gero did to him." Dende the guardian of the Earth stood ever watchful of the Earth from his lookout. They stared at the young boy moving along away from Satan city. "But I'm not allowed to do that, just send him back." Dende waved his hand over the speck that was Zero, "I'm Sorry Ranma."  
  
---------  
  
"I'm Sorry Ranma." Zero turned his head at the sound, a voice that he could oddly hear over the rushing of wind.  
  
What was that?  
  
-Insufficient data, please clarify-  
  
I thought I heard a voice, it said something about being sorry  
  
-Audio sensors did not receive any data to substantiate that-  
  
hmmm... I must just be imagining things, how much further till we reach that city?  
  
-Checking... Error, positioning satellites non-responsive. Re-modulating frequency... Error, positioning satellites non-responsive. Re-modulating frequency... Error, positioning satellites non-responsive.-  
  
What do you mean non responsive?, what's going on?  
  
-Satellite Network appears to be having a communication difficulty-  
  
Oh, well I guess there's nothing to be helped for that. he continued on oblivious to the scenery changing slowly melding from one place to another like water washing over the ground.  
  
---------  
  
Dash Stop! The mental command deactivated the acceleration units but kept the anti-grav units active to allow for Zero to stop without too much damage, twisting a bit he slid to a stop much like a skater on an ice rink. Turning back he looked upon the sprawling metropolis of greater Tokyo, the central ward rimmed by the various suburbs named after the cities and towns they once were. Following the road down he entered the Nerima ward, it looked peaceful enough as he was walking through it but that soon changed as a girl bowled into him while he was standing and looking at a school.  
  
Furinkan High glistened in the morning as Zero stood there, he looked inquisitively at the gathering of boys in front of the school like they were waiting for something but dismissed it as school business. When he was run into he turned to see a girl lying there starting to push herself up.  
  
"Sorry about that, are you hurt?" he tried to sound polite with prompting from X but she just batted is hand away and stood up fuming as if he did something wrong. X? You know what's going on?  
  
-Negative, inquire as to the situation-  
  
"Uhhh... did I do something wrong?" he was shocked to see her become even angrier, which did not seem possible.  
  
"Of course you did something wrong! You didn't fall over when I hit you!" The girl yelled at him while getting into a martial Arts stance, quite an aggressive one but her defense seemed to be non-existent.  
  
Either she's a complete novice, or she's a highly advanced martial artist...  
  
-I vote for the sooner- X's mechanical voice held little humor as he cracked his first joke.  
  
"And why did you hit me?" This aught a be good  
  
"Because Your a BOY!" with that she swung at him which he easily dodged even without X's help like with the sayai-jins.  
  
"Y'know you really should work on your speed." He kept dodging and she kept getting angrier and thus sloppier. "Your anger problem isn't helping..." she just yelled incoherently at him and kept up the attacks while the schoolyard watched the two. "And your defense is non-existent." He suddenly went on the offensive scoring light taps in various areas just making her attack with renewed vigor.  
  
"WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE!" she was stunned that she kept missing, it was like he was made of quicksilver. The more she tried to hit him the easier he made it seem to dodge her.  
  
-It would be in both parties best interest for this fight to finish-  
  
Tell her that, looks like I'm gonna have to end it and end it he did with a fist ending up a millimeter from her nose, the seemingly black gloved hand and odd armoring on his arm became visible to the world. "You lose."  
  
The statement was heard by everyone in the student body and already people were whispering.  
  
"I WON'T STAND FOR IT!" a boy stepped out from behind a tree and pointed a stick in the shape of a sword at him. "THE FIERCE TIGRESS AKANE TENDO SHALL NOT DATE THEE..."  
  
Who said I wanted to date her?  
  
-Unknown-  
  
"FOR ONE OF HER ABILITIES CAN ONLY BE TRULY DEFEATED BY ONE SUCH AS I!" The boy ended with the stick propped against his shoulder with the "blade" pointed up as if it were made of steel. "THE ONLY WAY ONE SUCH AS YOURSELF COULD HAVE DONE IT IS WITH..." He never finished his blowhard speech as Zero's fist imbedded itself in his gut.  
  
"Man that guy can really blow steam." Zero's victory over the boy was short lived as the girl, who he now knew as Akane Tendo, attacked him again. "What do you want now?" He inquired as he again effortlessly dodged the attacks.  
  
"Hold still and take it like a man!" her statement was odd considering her dislike for boys. But nonetheless he obliged if only from some innate instinct to not allow someone to challenge that aspect of him.  
  
"You finished yet?" The punch she threw landed square in his chest and he just stood there unaffected while Akane reeled back clutching her broken hand.  
  
"What the hell are you made out of steel?" she yelled trying to sooth the pain in her appendage.  
  
Good question... am I?  
  
-No, titanium fibrous ferrite makes up the core of your body structure-  
  
Oh  
  
"Nope not steel" the statement caught the attention of Akane's sister Nabiki as she picked up the subtle hint that he was made of something else. And those bracers he wore looked expensive. Zero got an odd feeling of dread as she walked out to tend to her sister.  
  
---------   
  
"So who are you?" the question caught Zero off balance as he was contemplating how the one girl, later revealed to be Nabiki Tendo, but luckily without any aspirations of hurting him physically, had gotten him into the school and registered and in class before the first lesson ended.  
  
"Zero, remember you wrote it on the registration form. Although I don't really know why I'm even here." Or why they accepted a registration form without age, birth date, parental information, or even ID of any form.  
  
"I meant family name, and what does "Zero" stand for? I hope its not how much you have in the bank." It was a joke but not too far from the truth, even if she didn't need to know that.  
  
"I dunno my family name, and Zero doesn't stand for anything its just my name. I don't remember much about my life, or anything at all past about a couple of days ago, disconcerting but I'm still alive so I'm not worried. Now for my question, what's up with your sister?"  
  
"Hmmmm... I normally charge for information but since your new and pretty cute I'll make it a freebie today."  
  
I'm "cute"?  
  
-Unknown-  
  
"She's all up in arms since Kuno made the announcement that the only people that could date my sister had to defeat her in combat, which means you're her only prospect right now."  
  
"Eh, tomboys aren't my type. Too violent and prone to attacking you if today is any indication." Smiling he turned back to the board as the teacher called upon him to answer the question shown on the board, hoping to make a fool of him for not paying attention. Looking at the board for a second and then back to the teacher he stared the guy down. "Four hundred sixty-two thousand three hundred and fifty three." With that he turned back and continued his conversation with Nabiki while the teacher sat at his desk and was furiously trying to prove the new student wrong.  
  
Nabiki just watched in wonder as the teacher made various motions indicating that he couldn't do it. "Smart and cute... dangerous combo" she whispered not realizing it was spoken out loud.  
  
"Huh? You say something?"  
  
"Uh..." Nabiki Tendo wasn't one who was often at a loss for words and quickly scanned him for something to change the subject to. "Just asked what the helmet is about?" she accented the query with a wave to the device attached to his belt.  
  
"Oh... that? I'll show you later, right now isn't the best time for it."  
  
---------  
  
"So where do you live?" Nabiki asked Zero while Akane, who was walking on her other side, nursed a sling and bandages for her hand while they traveled towards Dr. Tofu's clinic.  
  
"Nowhere, I just got into town when you registered me for school." He walked on as the two turned into the walk-in clinic. Not even noticing until Nabiki called him back and into the office.  
  
"Why do you ask?" he continued once he had sat next to Nabiki who was waiting for Akane who had gone to get the doctor to look at her hand.  
  
"Well mainly since you didn't mention a mailing address or even a permanent address." She watched him with the same calculating look she gave everything that interested her. "And since you don't have a home, why not stay with us? We have a large enough house and as long as you pay rent then I'm sure dad wouldn't mind."  
  
"I'd need to find a job to pay for it but that would work out great. Thanks." She looked at him oddly.  
  
"That amour of yours must have been a pretty penny, why not just sell it?" she was already thinking of the amount of money that could be made if the thing he was wearing was even remotely as hi-tech as it seemed.  
  
"Unfortunately that can't be done, its..." he trailed off a second and looked like he was in deep thought.  
  
-Warning, giving information on the Zero unit cybernetics is highly unadvisable-  
  
"Sentimental, not something I want to get rid of that quickly... or could" the last part he mumbled to himself barely even registering it as spoken words.  
  
"Well then what's so great about it? Like that helmet for example, I've never seen anything like it before. What's its story"  
  
"That? Its the oddest thing for some reason when I put it on my hair gets longer and turns blonde... I also feel stronger but I have no clue why." it was the truth and wasn't too revealing although X admonished him on telling people about that little ability.  
  
"Can I see that? The whole hair thing?"  
  
"Uhh... sure I guess, lets go outside to that lot out back, its easier to show you there." as they left Akane was sitting there fuming about the new boy and his steel hard skin. Once outside he told her to sit on the steps and watch.  
  
Ready X?  
  
-I must inform you that this is not a wise course of action-  
  
oh come on X its just a little show and its not like she's gonna blab it to the entire ward. Before X could respond he had the helmet on his head and was pushing the latch into place. The second it was done the helmet once again form fitted to his head and he could feel the surge of power. To Nabiki it was one of the most dazzling light shows she had ever seen, and the way his hair grew from a black pigtail to gorgeous blonde hair that almost reached the floor, she wished hers did that. Then the force of his aura hit her and she fell over onto her back eyes wide and banged her head on the steps she was sitting on.  
  
"OWWW!" her complaint was complimented with furious rubbing of the offended portion of her skull. Even if it wasn't the right thing to do it made it feel better and for her that's what counted.  
  
"Gomen! I forgot that that happens whenever I do this." he was there and examining her head holding her hands away while she winced as the pain returned.  
  
"Hey careful its still tender" she complained at the treatment he gave her, even though the pain was fading faster than her method.  
  
"Just leave it along let air to it and it'll go away" X indicated some things in his view and he tapped them on her neck and shoulders which resulted in the pain going away instantly.  
  
"Wow, you never told me you know Shiatsu. You been holding out on me?" she gave him a suspicious look as he fidgeted a bit.  
  
"Well its more of a hobby, just something on the side" he hoped she bought the lie but that had the unfortunate effect of showing on his face. She just put that away for later reference. "We should be getting inside Akane might be waiting for us." he unlatched the helmet before clipping to his belt as they walked into the clinic.  
  
---------  
  
Khu Lon of the Chinese amazons, Joketsozuku tribe matriarch and great grandmother of Xian Pu was busy cleaning the new panda rug they now had. The dumb animal ticked them off when it stole most of the first place prize for the yearly tournament, and so it became the prize, once caught that was. While scraping the entrails off of the skin he suddenly stopped and stared at the wall, had anyone went past the obstacle they would notice that she was staring in the direction of Japan. "Something arrives in the land of Wa... Herb would want to know of this... we must get to it first" her Ki senses skyrocketed as she watched the area, whatever it was it had a Ki level that dwarfed even saffron at his full strength. turning to her grandson-in-law she yelled at him to finish cleaning the rug and hopped off on her staff towards the council hall.  
  
---------  
  
"That power... I must have it!" Herb prince of the Musk dynasty sat upon his throne idly watching the horizon as the power from the land of Wa surfaced. "LIME! MINT! WE LEAVE FOR JAPAN AT ONCE!" with that he stood and walked to his war commander's home. "With this power even the phoenix would be nothing compared to me."  
  
---------  
  
"OH WHY COULDN'T YOUR SON HAVE JUST LISTENED TO YOU SAOTOME!?" Soun Tendo was crying, which that in itself wasn't odd, ever since his wife died he cried on a regular basis but this time he was joined by a man about his age as they bawled over a bottle of sake. "WHY DID HE HAVE TO DROWN!?" the other man would have answered if not for the fact that he was no longer a man but a panda wearing a gi that was several sizes too small and glasses hanging off of one ear.  
  
[OH MY UNGRATEFUL SON! HOW COULD YOU LEAVE YOUR FATHER SO?] Genma Saotome sat there reminiscing on how he led his son to Jusenkyo and how he drowned in a flash of light then the problems with the amazons, luckily he found that other panda in time to ditch the crazy women. [I NEVER EVEN GOT TO TASTE THE HAM!] had Soun not been gushing tears enough that Genma was transformed he might have noticed the inconsistency in his friend's story.  
  
Nabiki walked in the door nursing a slightly sore backside but otherwise none the worse for wear, following her was Akane still with the sling and brace but better than before the trip to Tofu's although in quite a foul mood. Lastly the raven haired boy came walking into the house looking at everything in the new environment. It was a nice house aside from the lout and panda in the living room. Wait a minute...?  
  
"Is that a panda I just saw?" he inquired as the other two seemed to shrug it off like it was nothing. Hearing a non Tendo family member voice Genma turned and promptly fainted with a sign lying near his head. [RANMA!]  
  
"Oh that? its just Mr. Saotome, he's another one of our guests, has a curse. tragic story." Nabiki droned as if she had heard and gotten sick of the story, considering that it was the same story that she had heard 13 different times since the man had arrived the day before but it changed every time, nothing stayed consistent with the fool. "Must have been too much sake." zero nodded in comprehension at seeing the empty bottles of liquor.  
  
"Ok, is your father well enough to propose the arrangement?" he asked looking at the conscious, although barely, patriarch of the Tendo household.  
  
"no, give it till morning, you can have tonight free." she walked up the stairs and showed him the guest room and where the spare futons were. "We'll Talk tomorrow morning."  
  
---------  
  
In the morning the Family was awoken by a bone chilling scream, which on further investigation turned out to be a bone white Genma staring at the new member of the house as he practiced in the dojo. as they got there they saw him pointing at Zero muttering one thing over and over.  
  
"Ranma!"  
  
---------  
  
Author's notes: I like that one better than the original, hopefully it fleshes out better.   
  
next chapter Zero or Ranma, which is who?  
  
check out my fics at   
  
http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/nuvares  
  
Zero Saotome is located at Tannim's  
  
tannim.anifics.com  
  
Anifics  
  
www.anifics.com  
  
and fanfiction.net  
  
www.fanfiction.net  
  
C&C always welcome at Jnuvares@hotmail.com  
  
cya  
  
Nuvares 


	3. The Death and Rebirth of Ranma

Jason Nuvares wrote: Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, the series and all characters involved with the series Belong to Rumiko Takahashi I also don't own Dragonball Z, the series... yada yada... blah blah blah belong to Akira Toriyama And the excellent people at Capcom own Zero and the entire Megaman/Rockman/Megaman X series  
  
I do this for fun and not profit so please don't sue! Performs crouch of the wild tiger  
  
"Speech" (duh) Thought -Signs/machine speak- Telepathy' (Authors notes)  
  
Zero Saotome Chapter Three  
  
"What's he blabbering about?" Nabiki asked as she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes, from what she could see Genma was lying on the ground after looking at Zero and screaming "Ranma!".  
  
"I don't know Nabiki he just looked at your tin man there and started shouting his son's name."  
Akane added her two bits worth. "Why not ask the metal marvel there what's going on?"  
  
"Well Zero, you heard her. what's going on?" Nabiki inquired of the newest member of the household. the boy in question just shrugged.  
  
Isn't that the question of the day... Zero mentally dead panned.  
  
"I don't remember ever meeting this man in my life so I wouldn't know. He seems familiar though."  
Zero frowned at the being under him.  
  
"That doesn't exactly cut it Zero, you told me before that you couldn't remember anything of your life." Nabiki said in one of her Ice Queen demeanor. She was suspicious, could this be the dead son of her father's best friend?  
  
You know anything X? he thought, hoping the machine would be able to pull up something from his memories that were just a jumble in the back of his head.  
  
-negative match on Genma Saotome in previous records.- was the machine's reply.  
  
-Warning- Zero looked up in time to dodge a large wooden mallet that was coming at his head.  
  
'WHAT THE F...' he thought as he saw Akane Tendo on the other end of the large hammer.  
  
"PERVERT!" she screamed at him before trying to hit him again and again and again every time with him dodging it.  
  
"What's your problem?" he asked in a surprisingly calm voice while dodging the clumsy swings of the girl.  
  
"YOU WERE TRYING SOMETHING PERVERTED!" she screamed.  
  
"When," jumping over her on the last swing he landed behind the unconscious Genma Saotome and beside Nabiki."did I do something perverted?" he inquired, looking at the girl beside him. She just shrugged and glared at Akane with her "do that and you'll regret it" patented glare; if Zero left because of baby sister there then so went his rent.  
  
"Stop it Akane," she said in a vocal representation of her look. "He hasn't done anything worth meeting your Mallet-sama." she said as her sister a bit fed up with her younger sister's latest habit of bashing everything with her hammer.  
  
Hey X, any idea what a mallet-sama is?  
  
-Querying 'mallet-sama'... query returned 0 results-  
  
"Mallet-sama?" Zero inquired, the look of pure confusion adorning his face.  
  
"Akane can pull a large wooden hammer out of nowhere which she uses to hit those who she labels a pervert" Nabiki explained motioning to the same large wooden hammer that was currently aimed to hit Zero. Zero just stared at the mallet a sec before he cocked his head like a dog that had heard something interesting.  
  
-solidifying energy in a matter conversion pocket- X intoned. "A Chi technique..." he continued to watch for a moment before Akane jumped at him.  
  
"HENTAI NO BAKA!" She yelled swinging again, Zero grabbed Nabiki, ducked the mallet that was going to hit her had it struck its mark. set her on the floor, stood up, and slammed Akane's mallet with his fist, shattering the wood. Akane was shocked. "MALLET-SAMA!" she cried cradling the remains of her hammer.  
  
"Is something wrong with her?" he asked Nabiki while helping her up. She just stared at her sister then at Zero.  
  
"How did you do that?" she asked, having watched Zero destroy Akane's hammer.  
  
---------  
  
"RANMA!" Genma shouted as he bolted upright in the futon he was sleeping in. Looking around at the guest room he was staying in at the Tendo's he sighed in relief and a bit of sadness. "It was only a dream... Only a dream..." laying back down, he heard the gentle sliding sound of the door opening.  
  
"Saotome, I know that you dearly miss your son..." Soun Tendo spoke withholding tears as he recalled the story of his friend's son's death and with it the end of their chance to unite the schools of Anything Goes Martial Arts. "We will all miss him. but you shouldn't torture yourself like that, the young man downstairs isn't your son, your son died." most of the gods face faulted at that, Soun Tendo was counseling someone over losing a loved one.  
  
---------  
  
Nabiki was suspicious, Genma's story varied too much every time he told it and this latest bit with the scream and faint didn't help. Zero's amnesia also seemed pretty convenient, this was why she sat there at a library computer doing a search on the Saotome family and the mysterious Ranma.  
  
"This guy comes into our lives, tells us a sob story 30 ways to nothing and now he's yelling his dead son's name at the first person to offer to pay rent for a room. She hoped that Zero wasn't Ranma; she didn't know what would happen should he be the dead son that he didn't remember being. "Hurry up..." she growled at her computer while it worked on compiling the search results.  
  
-346 Direct Entries on Ranma Saotome -7394 entries pertaining to the saotome name  
  
Sighing Nabiki set about going through the things her computer found on the internet based on relevancy.  
  
- Sorting... estimated time 3 hours 15 minutes  
  
Nabiki sighed and set about doing something while she waited for her computer to finish its task.  
  
---------  
  
"Tendo, I saw him! standing there in the dojo, his ghost has come back to haunt me! Oh what did I do to deserve such a son?" the large man bawled into his friend's shoulder while the Soun just bawled while holding his friend to his shoulder.  
  
"Stay strong Saotome. Stay strong." the two sat there for about fifteen minutes till the fat martial artist slowly stopped his bawling and stood up.  
  
"Lets go Tendo, I don't want to miss too much of the day."  
  
---------  
  
"HIYAA!" CRACK The helpless cinder block didn't stand a chance as the stone rending fist punctured its hard structure reducing it to shards and dust. As the dust settled, the fist removed itself from the grinding position it had placed itself in. "Hrumph... " Doctor Tofu had really done a good job fixing her hand and now it was the only hand she was using, imagining that the blocks were instead the head of a certain steel bodied pig-tailed thing.  
  
A blur of words and numbers appeared in Zero's view as areas of Akane's body were outlined causing a new stream to occur. muscle size, reaction time, ligament tension, lung capacity; the words held little meaning to him; the numbers never meant much to him at all. When it was finished, her whole body was outlined and the words disappeared to be replaced by 'Fighting potential, 493'. That got him interested.  
  
what's that mean X?  
  
-it is the approximation of unit Akane's total fighting potential on a rating scale.-  
  
ok, is that number good?  
  
-the average human gets a score of 12-29, those trained in martial arts can gain anywhere from 100-1900 points dependant on aptitude, judgement and personal learning potential.-  
  
ok then what am I at?  
  
The second he said the words, an image of himself came up in his view and the computer went to work. Scrolling the same words as before at speeds just barely slow enough for him to read. One thing he did notice, however, was that his numbers were all larger than hers.  
  
-fighting potential 2548-  
  
Wow... that high huh? he watched Akane break blocks for a bit longer before shaking his head a bit.so, is there any way for her to increase her fighting potential? it seems pretty low when compared to mine  
  
-less emphases on strength, more on speed and technique.-  
  
"Y'know your strength isn't a problem, you should work more on your speed." that voice was the most annoying thing she had ever heard, Zero stood there watching her with the most annoying smirk that made her want to mallet him. But he'd probably just smash her mallet again. That made her so angry! He hurt her mallet-sama!  
  
-mallet at 3 o'clock-  
  
you think that's news?  
  
-negative-  
  
"DIE!" she screamed smashing the floorboard where Zero used to be with a new mallet only to be holding splinters when Zero's fist impacted the head of the mallet crushing it. "NO! Not Mallet-Sama II!" she cried taking the shards of wood to her room with her.  
  
there goes another annoying thing.  
  
-Do you mean the girl or the mallet?-  
  
hmmm...y'know, both.  
  
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY LITTLE GIRL!" Soun went into full demon-head mode when his youngest daughter ran past him crying.  
  
- an illusion based technique... easy to perform just a slight ki manipulation.-  
  
"interesting..." Zero stood there a moment before his head grew larger and took on a demonic presence that dwarfed Soun's demon-head, causing the man to back down. "I JUST SMASHED HER MALLET BECAUSE SHE WAS GOING TO HIT ME WITH IT!" feeling the effects of his own technique magnified and used against him Soun dropped on the ground crying and begging forgiveness. "No problem Mr. Tendo, nice technique." Zero stated before walking off. Man what a wuss!  
  
-his high hormonal imbalance causes him to retreat when confronted-  
  
ok, but he's still a wimp.  
  
-agreed-  
  
---------  
  
"Lunch time!" Kasumi called out as the two patriarchs came down the stairs, both brightening up a bit at the thought of her cooking.  
  
"Come on Saotome let's go have some lunch; although for you, it might be breakfast." Soun chided as they walked to the table and sat down.  
  
"Yes Tendo, let's," at the mention of food Genma perked right up and his belly rumbled loudly alerting the two to Genma's lack of sustenance.  
  
"You need some hot water Saotome? huh?" Soun asked in mock confusion. "I'd swear you just went Panda old friend!" he bellowed at the predatory growl of his friends abdomen. Genma just laughed as he opened the door to the dining room causing everyone at the table to turn to the two adults. the three girls and him. He was there, sitting beside the middle daughter in the place Genma himself usually sat.  
  
It was him. He was sure, everything was the same, the same black hair done up in a pig tail, the same slightly childish face, the same piercing slate grey eyes that seemed to accuse Genma, force him to relive all the things he did to his son; taking him away from his mother, the neko-ken, the starvation and long treks, and finally Jusenkyou. now his son's ghost had chosen to haunt him,  
remind him of everything he had done to the boy.  
  
"NO!!!" The fat man howled falling backwards sniveling as he tried to drag himself further than the walls would allow him to go. "No no no! don't haunt me, I'm sorry you drowned... I couldn't do anything... Please don't haunt me!" he shrieked as the boy stood and walked towards the man. when he was in range he cocked his head and pierced Genma with his gaze.  
  
--------  
  
"Who are you?" Zero asked the strange man laying on the ground before him. "You seem familiar yet I do not know you." he trailed off still staring the man.  
  
X can you pull anything up? that seems to be your area. -Scanning local nets now... Subject: Genma Saotome, 8927 queried results on 'Saotome' as a family name, 2938 queried results on 'Genma Saotome' sorting by relevance, estimated time 5 minutes 32 seconds.- K tell me what you find.  
  
Standing up he walked over and sat beside Nabiki again as everyone watched his movements. After he was seated everyone turned to the almost catatonic cursed man.  
  
"Come on Saotome lets get you something to eat and you can be introduced to the young man who will be renting a room from us." Soun stated, lifting the man from his place on the ground and slowly leading him to sit beside Akane and try to eat something. Too bad that the infamous Saotome appetite was oddly absent from the pale man.  
  
---------  
  
So what's the scoop X? -Listing summary of top 10 files by relevancy  
  
Genma Saotome Age: 36 Height:5'4" Weight:345 lbs comments: -wanted for 2382 occurrences of petty theft -Wanted for questioning in 439 cases of child abuse and torture -See relevant information on spouse and child  
  
Nodoka Saotome Ranma Saotome  
  
How do you want to proceed zero?- Well since he seems to think I'm the son lets take a look at him. -Accessing  
  
Ranma Saotome Age: 16 Height: 5'6" Weight: 170 lbs Comments: - Son of Genma and Nodoka Saotome  
  
Genma Saotome Nodoka Saotome -  
  
there a picture of the kid? -Affirmative Latest picture dated 4 years ago- well bring it up anyway let's at least see what he looked like back them  
  
Sitting in the Dojo zero was almost shocked out of his lotus position as the picture looked like a younger version of him. Albeit it probably was a good thing since he was meditating while hovering 2 feet off the ground. As he was slumped on the ground Akane walked in and humphed as she grabbed some more concrete blocks to break.  
  
That looks like me! -calculating possibility that the youth in the pictorial is unit zero at 97.324 percent- so your saying that the fat ass is my father? -affirmative given current information.-  
  
Sighing, Zero stood up and walked towards the door and opened it to reveal Genma himself. As the man came into view, Zero's vison flashed white.  
  
---------  
  
As his sight cleared up, Zero noticed that Genma was standing in front of him looking very much bigger than him and a little miffed. They also didn't appear to be in the Tendo dojo anymore.  
  
"Boy, today we're going to toughen up your body so that your opponent's attacks won't hurt you."  
the man said reaching for a bag of miscellaneous plumbing and hardware supplies that he had been able to steal from a nearby construction site. Grabbing first a torque wrench from the bag. "Now don't move boy, and you better learn this quick so we can get onto your next technique."  
  
As the fat man finished his lecture, Zero felt an enormous amount of pain in his shoulder as the wrench was hurled with great force at him. This continued with everything but the long metal pipes;  
which were used like baseball bats to constantly beat on the small curled up form of Zero as he tried to get his father to stop. One particularly hard blow to the back of the head caused his vision to blank out again as he slipped into unconsciousness.  
  
---------  
  
Blinking his eyes open, he first noticed that he was on the floor, next thing was that the deep brown eyes of the middle Tendo daughter were staring into his eyes. Bolting upright as soon as his eyes had fully opened, he startled the girl with his rapid motions.  
  
"Nabiki?" he asked looking around himself and noticing that he wasn't on the floor but the futon he was renting from the Tendo's. The girl seemed to be watching over him while he was out. "What's going on X?" he voiced; accidentally getting an odd look from the girl beside him.  
  
-good news or bad news first zero?- "good" -you just recovered a memory- "and the bad news?" -you seem to have lost all concept of internal monolog- "wha?" -your speaking to me instead of thinking to me- "yeah so?" -Nabiki's beside you-  
  
"So Zero... Who's X?" Nabiki asked causing him to freeze up like a deer caught in bright lights. He slowly turned to her, finally remembering she was in the room.  
  
"Nabiki's besi.... oh kuso..."  
  
---------  
  
"Nabiki?... What's going on X?... good... and the bad news... wha?... yeah so?" The boy in front of her said, seemingly oblivious to her sitting there. It was interesting; like he was holding a conversation with someone who wasn't there.  
  
maybe he's crazy she thought to herself as he continued on his little conversation without care.  
Normally Nabiki would have found a perfect blackmail candidate but for some reason she didn't really want to do anything that could drive the boy away from her. Where the hell did that come from?  
"So Zero... Who's X?" She giggled a bit internally as he looked at her and stiffened.  
  
"Nabiki's besi.... oh kuso..." he slumped his shoulders and she knew she had him. she didn't exactly know what she was gonna get or what she even wanted but she was going to get something.  
something she wasn't supposed to get and that make it all the better to her.  
  
"Well it started a while ago, kinda came with the whole light show you seen... just woke up one day and I was like this" he tried to smile but his nervous feelings held back any mirth that he might have had.  
  
---------  
  
"I just need some sleep, just get this nonsense outta my head. after that, maybe I should just avoid him... take some time to get used to what's going on." Walking to his room Genma was looking to take a nap after a game of shogi with soun. looking in his room he saw a sight that made him wet his gi and drop to his knees begging not to be killed.  
  
in the room Zero sat meditating 3 feet above the ground and glowing with a bright blue aura,  
needless to say that noone payed much attention when genma went running through the house screaming his head off about his dead son coming back to kill him.  
  
"What's he screaming about now?" nabiki asked zero as he watched Genma run around the yard placing crudely drawn spiritual wards all over the place only to scream when he saw zero and do rounds again with his homemade wards.  
  
Zero just shrugged.  
  
---------  
  
AN:  
Yes I am alive... well sorta, took a while for my friends to gather the dragon balls but it seems to have turned out alright.  
sorry for keeping everyone, but life's been a ride and I haven't been living much of it how I want.  
  
As usual send your comments, flames, and anything else you want to me but my e-mail is now Please no spam or junk.  
  
Nuvares  
  
This, and all my fics, can be found at my old site   
my new one is   
And tannim's 


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